Do we need EP? Trying to decide on hotel. And other random ??s

Uni newbie here. I know nothing about it really. Was planning MK/MVMCP for our precruise park day. The reports from MNSSHP this year are making the think we should give Uni a try instead. My DS10 has been asking to go anyways. Plus, something new is always nice.

Since it appears Uni counts my 2 year old in occupancy (vs WDW under 3 not counting), I am going to need 2 rooms at Royal Pacific (to get EP included) or a 2bedroom suite at Cabana Bay (forego EP).

Date is 12/14...a Friday. (ETA: appears to be a value day on the calendar)

Thoughts on needing EP? We only have the 1 day and will do a P2P ticket. DH hates crowds and lines, fyi. So I lean towards EP.

Also, should I take DD2 in the parks or just have a resort day with her? I will start researching what there is to do in the parks for her age/height, but I am leaning towards saving the $170 a ticket would cost me and just hang with her at the hotel while DH takes the 3 older kids (19,10, 8).

Thanks for the help!

It should be a low crowd day, but if you only have one day an EP would help you do as much as possible.

1 day, I would get the EP.

To make it a more enjoyable day for the other 3 kids, I would not take the 2 yr old. There are some things available for that age range, but they are very limited and if it is EP or take the 2 yr old, I would go with EP everytime.

disneymagicgirl said:

Uni newbie here. I know nothing about it really. Was planning MK/MVMCP for our precruise park day. The reports from MNSSHP this year are making the think we should give Uni a try instead. My DS10 has been asking to go anyways. Plus, something new is always nice.

Since it appears Uni counts my 2 year old in occupancy (vs WDW under 3 not counting), I am going to need 2 rooms at Royal Pacific (to get EP included) or a 2bedroom suite at Cabana Bay (forego EP).

Date is 12/14...a Friday. (ETA: appears to be a value day on the calendar)

Thoughts on needing EP? We only have the 1 day and will do a P2P ticket. DH hates crowds and lines, fyi. So I lean towards EP.

Also, should I take DD2 in the parks or just have a resort day with her? I will start researching what there is to do in the parks for her age/height, but I am leaning towards saving the $170 a ticket would cost me and just hang with her at the hotel while DH takes the 3 older kids (19,10, 8).

Thanks for the help!

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I don't think your 2-year-old would get that much out of the parks. There are a couple of kid areas, but those are a really tiny percentage of the attractions. When we went, my impression is that Universal's little kid areas seem designed as a place for parents to switch off caring for the littlest while the other goes on the "real" rides. If you and DH wouldn't be handing off kid duty on a regular basis, I don't think it's worth $170 to spend the day there when you could spend it at the resort.

With just 1 day to do two parks, you're really going to want that express pass. If you had even two days, I'd say you could get away with standby lines and some strategic planning, but you'll miss a lot if you only have a day and are waiting for everything.

I know RPR is more expensive than CB. Would the two rooms be affordable if you don't factor in your ticket cost? Alternately, you could always get one room at RPR (for express pass) and a second room for you and LO at CB (lower price) - obviously not ideal, but the resorts are all pretty close to each other at Universal. For the resort day, I think you'll enjoy it. Unlike Disney, Universal allows all onsite guests to pool hop, so you can take DD and go wherever you'd like. With the boat transportation, I bet she'd enjoy getting to go for rides between City Walk and the resorts, even if you don't get off and visit.

ClapYourHands said:

I don't think your 2-year-old would get that much out of the parks. There are a couple of kid areas, but those are a really tiny percentage of the attractions. When we went, my impression is that Universal's little kid areas seem designed as a place for parents to switch off caring for the littlest while the other goes on the "real" rides. If you and DH wouldn't be handing off kid duty on a regular basis, I don't think it's worth $170 to spend the day there when you could spend it at the resort.

With just 1 day to do two parks, you're really going to want that express pass. If you had even two days, I'd say you could get away with standby lines and some strategic planning, but you'll miss a lot if you only have a day and are waiting for everything.

I know RPR is more expensive than CB. Would the two rooms be affordable if you don't factor in your ticket cost? Alternately, you could always get one room at RPR (for express pass) and a second room for you and LO at CB (lower price) - obviously not ideal, but the resorts are all pretty close to each other at Universal. For the resort day, I think you'll enjoy it. Unlike Disney, Universal allows all onsite guests to pool hop, so you can take DD and go wherever you'd like. With the boat transportation, I bet she'd enjoy getting to go for rides between City Walk and the resorts, even if you don't get off and visit.

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Good ideas! Thank you! Glad to know I can keep dd2 entertained at the resorts easily enough. I will look into the combining 2 resorts idea.

We went in February and had 2 rooms at the Royal Pacific. This time we are going in December and didn't want to spend as much money and only planned to get one room for the 5 of us. Then of course I got thinking......sooooo. I have booked us one room at the Royal Pacific to get us all the express passes for the parks and my husband and two boys will be sleeping there. And one room at the Sapphire next door where my daughter and I will be sleeping. We can jump back and forth and all have nice beds to sleep in and best of all.....2 bathrooms instead of just the one!!!

Bren3 said:

We went in February and had 2 rooms at the Royal Pacific. This time we are going in December and didn't want to spend as much money and only planned to get one room for the 5 of us. Then of course I got thinking......sooooo. I have booked us one room at the Royal Pacific to get us all the express passes for the parks and my husband and two boys will be sleeping there. And one room at the Sapphire next door where my daughter and I will be sleeping. We can jump back and forth and all have nice beds to sleep in and best of all.....2 bathrooms instead of just the one!!!

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Smart! And welcome!

Bren3 said:

We went in February and had 2 rooms at the Royal Pacific. This time we are going in December and didn't want to spend as much money and only planned to get one room for the 5 of us. Then of course I got thinking......sooooo. I have booked us one room at the Royal Pacific to get us all the express passes for the parks and my husband and two boys will be sleeping there. And one room at the Sapphire next door where my daughter and I will be sleeping. We can jump back and forth and all have nice beds to sleep in and best of all.....2 bathrooms instead of just the one!!!

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I will price it out this way today. Thx!

I think littles under 3 are free (no tickets required). Tickets on the website start at age 3.

You may also want to call and check with the hotel directly whether a 2 yr old in a crib counts towards occupancy, just to be sure.

CAPSLOCK said:

I think littles under 3 are free (no tickets required). Tickets on the website start at age 3.

You may also want to call and check with the hotel directly whether a 2 yr old in a crib counts towards occupancy, just to be sure.

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Yeah she is free but it saves my ticket ($170 I think) if I don't take her. Since I won't be able to do much, may as well save the money.

disneymagicgirl said:

Yeah she is free but it saves my ticket ($170 I think) if I don't take her. Since I won't be able to do much, may as well save the money.

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If going to the park is no biggie to you, and you would be minding that small of a child at the park anyway, I think you would have a better time just minding her back at the resort, because while there is a little bit of things to do with a child that small, there is not, imho, enough for a full day.

Children in cribs do count in the occupancy count at the hotels.

You might want to check out Cabana Bay again. I’m pretty certain that the family suites (the ones with two beds in the bedroom and a pull out couch in the living space) accommodate a max occupancy of 6 people. And it’d be way cheaper than 2 bedroom suite there or booking two rooms anywhere else. It might price out as better/cheaper than EP.

Another thing with EP is that you don’t have to buy it ahead. You don’t even have to buy it at the gate. There are lots of places to upgrade to it within the parks after you get inside if the lines end up being too long that day. So if you know in your head what it would do to the budget, and are willing to spend it, you don’t actually have to make the decision until day of - and even moment of frustration of. And since it sounds like you have a good chance of being there on a slow day, that might be a way to save some money too. It’d also mean you don’t have to update all of you, as it definitely sounds like at least you wouldn’t require an EP if you decide to go in.

You might want to consider holding off on getting the P2P tickets too if you’re only going to be there one day. Again, that’s an upgrade you can make in the parks that day if you actually have the time and energy to command and conquere both parks. I understand the want to do this and I know Universal has set it up as almost a “necessity” for some families due to HP being on both sides of the parks. But, I personally, don’t really know how anyone gets through both parks in one day in an enjoyable way. But it depends on what your families priorities are for rides and attractions. However, if you were to just start on the side that’s the priority — either US or IoA — and just pay for a one park ticket, if you run out of time to get to both, it wouldn’t be as big of hit. It’d save you a chunk of money. And again, if you do have the time, just upgrade in the parks.

If you do decide you want to go into the park, at least you could just get the one park ticket to save cash. And see some of the sights with your family that day. Just pick the side that might interest your two year old most.

IofA has the Seuessland area with rides and attractions for small children, including story reading. That time of year there will also be Grinch show happening and decorations. There is the frog choir show in the Harry Potter area. In the Jurassic Park area there is a playground. There is also an educational area and baby hatching g dinosaurs in the discovery centre and a ride for only small children (not sure on the height). There is a water play area for children in the toon land and there are super heroes around in that’s their thing for character meet and greets. There is also a lunch there now. And the Sinbad show as far as shows go.

US side has the Shrek show and the Minion ride, which might be appropriate depending on the child. There is also the ET ride. There is a whole children’s area with Feviel and Barney, including a playground and water play area. There are more character meet and greets on this side. And there’s the afternoon parade. It will also have the evening Macy’s balloon parade at this time of year and the large Christmas tree on display. It’s a singing jazz type show on this side in Diagon Alley. There is a puppet show as well but it might be a little too much for a 2yo. There’s a Blues Brother show too and some other types of street entertainment and characters wandering around. The Simpsons area is quite colourful and cartoonish even if there’s isn’t much to do for the little one.

But buying a single park ticket for yourself without EP and P2P would again save some money and allow you and the tootled to spend at least part of your day with the rest of the family. Even for the parade or lunch or whatever.

My opinion is that Cabana Bay is one of the better hotels for small kids and families if you’re doing a resort day. It’s nice that the family suites have a living space and kitchenette. It has multiple pools - including a slide and a lazy river. And splash area for little ones and sandy areas with toys as well. There is also a bowling alley on site in addition to the arcade. We’ve seen characters doing meet and greets inside too. And they supposedly have some extra Christmas stuff scheduled for December in the lobby area.

Cabana Bay is also literally across the street from Sapphire Falls if you get bored. And now the Adventura Hotel. You can catch the boat at Sapphire Falls for that boat ride to City Walk and to hop to other resorts and their pools too.

Cabana Bay is also connected to Volcano Bay with a dedicated entrance. That also might be a cheaper option if you wanted a Park day but more than a resort/pool day. It’s also close enough/walking distance from the “tower” side of Cabana Bay you could technically go back and forth a couple times if you wanted to.

Cabana Bay does include early entry to the parks as well just like all the other hotels.

You also hadn’t mentioned your arrivial or departure times on Thursday and Saturday. But you might want to check UT to see what promos they have as even if you’re able to push around the budget or how you’re doing it, getting in a couple hours on Thursday night or Saturdsy morning before you head to your cruise. Might be a better use of budget money toward tickets rather than going EP or P2P. If you can go a couple hours on Saturday morning you’d get that second early entry, which you let you enjoy the parks with low lines (for example if your family was favouring the rides and attractions at IoA for your one day but really wanted to get in Diagon Alley on the US side too).

Zombie said:

You might want to check out Cabana Bay again. I’m pretty certain that the family suites (the ones with two beds in the bedroom and a pull out couch in the living space) accommodate a max occupancy of 6 people. And it’d be way cheaper than 2 bedroom suite there or booking two rooms anywhere else. It might price out as better/cheaper than EP.

Another thing with EP is that you don’t have to buy it ahead. You don’t even have to buy it at the gate. There are lots of places to upgrade to it within the parks after you get inside if the lines end up being too long that day. So if you know in your head what it would do to the budget, and are willing to spend it, you don’t actually have to make the decision until day of - and even moment of frustration of. And since it sounds like you have a good chance of being there on a slow day, that might be a way to save some money too. It’d also mean you don’t have to update all of you, as it definitely sounds like at least you wouldn’t require an EP if you decide to go in.

You might want to consider holding off on getting the P2P tickets too if you’re only going to be there one day. Again, that’s an upgrade you can make in the parks that day if you actually have the time and energy to command and conquere both parks. I understand the want to do this and I know Universal has set it up as almost a “necessity” for some families due to HP being on both sides of the parks. But, I personally, don’t really know how anyone gets through both parks in one day in an enjoyable way. But it depends on what your families priorities are for rides and attractions. However, if you were to just start on the side that’s the priority — either US or IoA — and just pay for a one park ticket, if you run out of time to get to both, it wouldn’t be as big of hit. It’d save you a chunk of money. And again, if you do have the time, just upgrade in the parks.

If you do decide you want to go into the park, at least you could just get the one park ticket to save cash. And see some of the sights with your family that day. Just pick the side that might interest your two year old most.

IofA has the Seuessland area with rides and attractions for small children, including story reading. That time of year there will also be Grinch show happening and decorations. There is the frog choir show in the Harry Potter area. In the Jurassic Park area there is a playground. There is also an educational area and baby hatching g dinosaurs in the discovery centre and a ride for only small children (not sure on the height). There is a water play area for children in the toon land and there are super heroes around in that’s their thing for character meet and greets. There is also a lunch there now. And the Sinbad show as far as shows go.

US side has the Shrek show and the Minion ride, which might be appropriate depending on the child. There is also the ET ride. There is a whole children’s area with Feviel and Barney, including a playground and water play area. There are more character meet and greets on this side. And there’s the afternoon parade. It will also have the evening Macy’s balloon parade at this time of year and the large Christmas tree on display. It’s a singing jazz type show on this side in Diagon Alley. There is a puppet show as well but it might be a little too much for a 2yo. There’s a Blues Brother show too and some other types of street entertainment and characters wandering around. The Simpsons area is quite colourful and cartoonish even if there’s isn’t much to do for the little one.

But buying a single park ticket for yourself without EP and P2P would again save some money and allow you and the tootled to spend at least part of your day with the rest of the family. Even for the parade or lunch or whatever.

My opinion is that Cabana Bay is one of the better hotels for small kids and families if you’re doing a resort day. It’s nice that the family suites have a living space and kitchenette. It has multiple pools - including a slide and a lazy river. And splash area for little ones and sandy areas with toys as well. There is also a bowling alley on site in addition to the arcade. We’ve seen characters doing meet and greets inside too. And they supposedly have some extra Christmas stuff scheduled for December in the lobby area.

Cabana Bay is also literally across the street from Sapphire Falls if you get bored. And now the Adventura Hotel. You can catch the boat at Sapphire Falls for that boat ride to City Walk and to hop to other resorts and their pools too.

Cabana Bay is also connected to Volcano Bay with a dedicated entrance. That also might be a cheaper option if you wanted a Park day but more than a resort/pool day. It’s also close enough/walking distance from the “tower” side of Cabana Bay you could technically go back and forth a couple times if you wanted to.

Cabana Bay does include early entry to the parks as well just like all the other hotels.

You also hadn’t mentioned your arrivial or departure times on Thursday and Saturday. But you might want to check UT to see what promos they have as even if you’re able to push around the budget or how you’re doing it, getting in a couple hours on Thursday night or Saturdsy morning before you head to your cruise. Might be a better use of budget money toward tickets rather than going EP or P2P. If you can go a couple hours on Saturday morning you’d get that second early entry, which you let you enjoy the parks with low lines (for example if your family was favouring the rides and attractions at IoA for your one day but really wanted to get in Diagon Alley on the US side too).

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Wow, thanks so much for all the detailed info!!

As far as cabana bay....I am used to disney deluxe prices, so the 2 bedroom was still well under what I was planning to pay at GF which is why I was leaning towards that if we all do 1 room there. But yes, the smaller suite there fit us as well.

Interesting idea about adding onto the ticket when there and we determine what there is time/need for. I will consider this. My concern is DH doesn't like to know anything about what things cost so I don't know that in the moment he'd want to add onto the tickets like that. However if he already has the inclusive ticket he will be happy to use it. Crazy, I know. We used to go round and round about the DDP b/c I knew it was costing extra but he liked not getting a bill after dinner. Ha!

We arrive late thurs pm. Kids are already missing school Fri and the following week (6 days) so I can't arrive any earlier. Bummer. I think DD2 will be happy to have a chill day around the resorts and get a good midday nap. As for Saturday morning, we like to get to port early and be on the ship early to start the cruise, so I don't think we'd want to do a park that morning. How long is a 2 day ticket good for? We may end up having the day we get off the ship free and could use a 2nd park day then.

I'm going to go in Costco tomorrow and see if they have the park tickets with the Christmas stuff. I know I have seen them in store before, but can't recall if it was spring or holidays.

Ya'll are super helpful. I appreciate everyone!!

A lot of information, but I still say, 2 parks in one day, you are going to want express pass.

Yes, you could wait until you get there, but express pass per person as an add on, is not cheap.

My family and I don't like to wait in lines either. If your husband is anything like us then I would stay at the deluxe hotel and have them included. Why spend more time at the park going to get them the day of? If you want to do 2 parks in one day I would highly recommend them.

@disneymagicgirl You'd definitely have to price it out carefully and weigh it against your family's priorities and reasonable expectations of how much of the parks you'll actually get through. Though EP is a big upgrade if not included at the hotel, it might still work out cheaper when you're weighing it against a family suite ($160-180 range) at Cabana Bay versus two rooms at one of the deluxe hotels. I'm not sure. You'd have to check that time of year and the room costs. And the thought was more if it's a low-crowd day and/or you're taking longer in one of the parks than you thought (hence not actually getting to enjoy both in a worthwhile way), it might end of being a major saving to wait and just do the upgrades in parks.

My family was at Universal for the first time last year at the same time of year as you're going. We had significantly longer than a day to enjoy the parks and were staying on-site. But it was definitely a low-crowd period and I don't feel we would've needed the EP. And we are crowd and line adverse as well. The longest two lines we waited in were MIB and Kong. They were both maybe a 10-15 minute wait. Even FJ and Gringott's, even though they were listed as a 20 minute wait time, it was just walking through the queues and then standing for all of one or two loads in front of us when we got up to the ride vehicles. The queues are so themed at Universal you almost want to have a bit of a wait time to see them. In the FJ (Hogwart's castle) we actually stepped to the side and let people go by us so we could stand and watch some of the animations and interactions and look at the themeing. We saw several rides listed as a 0 or 5 minute wait time while we were in the parks.

I'm not sure how many days a regular ticket is good for. I suspect it is 7 or 10. The tickets we had, which were in a hotel package, were good for 14, though. You'll have to check the small print. Though, you might again want to look at UT as I've seen lots of people posting that right now they have a 2 Day ticket that adds 2 Days free and then they've taken that to guest services while they're at Universal and had it upgraded to a seasonal pass for free (or a nominal fee or sometimes even a small refund in a few cases it sounds like). You'd have to check the details to see what the different levels include and if that might make it a better cost-saving options too. I do know that APs give you room discounts (which apparently you don't need to have the AP pass yet when you book and just need to show it to the front desk before you check out to maintain the rate), which might be useful to you if booking two rooms. And some also include EP after 4 p.m. and some kind of parking discount.

We definitely aren't a command and conquer family. At Disney or otherwise. And we had a lot more time to go through US/IoA at our leisure. But I have trouble seeing how to get through both parks in a way that would really make full use of a 2P ticket in one day. Though, I absolutely get the desire to do so. I'm also not sure that I'd honestly say that say if your kids are mostly interested in the IoA area, if paying the P2P upgrade when you might just have time to see Diagon Alley is worth it (and we definitely liked Diagon Alley side better ... but I'm just not sure a couple hours on the US side would be worth the cost, especially if you think you are likely to be back to US another time and it's not a one-time thing).

To give you an idea of what our family (which has a variety of age ranges and a medical issue that means our days are shorter) did in a day:

One Day we did: US. Did not do EE but arrived early in the day. Did the Shrek show. Did Transformers meet-and-greet. Wandered San Fransisco Area (Jaws display), went into Diagon Alley and did the shops, had a butter beer, rode Gringott's twice, watched the dragon breath fire, bought a wand, did MIB, ate some lunch, stopped and watched the street drummers show, did the Horror Make-Up show. And then went back to the hotel in mid-afternoon.

Two Day we did: IoA. Did not do EE but arrived early in the day. Looked around Seuessland. Rode Cat in the Hat. Explored Hogsmead and did all the wand stations. Did the wand show. Rode FJ and Flight of the Hippogriff. Walked through to Jurassic Park. Spent some time in the Discovery Center. Had lunch. Rode Kong. Watched the super heroes do their drive-by. Rode Spiderman (this was a 0 minute wait). And then we headed out. Again this was about 2-ish in the afternoon.

Three Day we did: EE through the IoA gate. Explored Hogsmead again and redid some of the wand spots and went into some of the shops in low crowds. Took the train over to Diagon Alley. Did all the wand spots there. Rode Gringotts again. Took the train back to Hogsmead. Went back into Seussland. Looked in some shops. Rode the trolley. Watched Grinchmas. Looked in some more shops (including a Christmas store) on the way out. So again, about half a day.

Four Day we did: Went over in the mid-afternoon. Saw the end of the parade. Rode ET. Think it was a Trolls meet and greet there. Got some snacks. Snagged a spot for the Macy's parade. Watched the parade. We had intended to then take the train over to Hogsmead again to watch the night show projections on Hogswart. Unfortunately everyone else had that same idea and this was the only time we wished we had an EP. I forget how long the wait was but it was ridiculous and we dropped that idea. Instead we backtracked. Looked at the large Christmas tree lit up. Rode the Mummy. There was a minor wait time for JFNY but we decided to forego that when we walked passed. We watched a bit of MS and then we exited. We thought about trying to walk over to IoA and up to HP to see the projection. But it is quite the walk and it was getting close to closing time. So we decided to just call it quits.

We honestly felt like we just scratched the surface in the time we had. We can't command and conquer given our family's limitations. But I still feel that it'd be hard even for an able-bodied, age-appropriate family to really do it all in one day in an enjoyable way. Even with EP. I know some people will absolutely disagree and will have done it.

I will say that the parks (due to the water features in the middle of them) are a lot bigger with a lot more walking than they look on the map and there's not many short-cuts. You kind of have to walk the whole circuit one way or the other to get to what you want in most cases. And also there really is some beautiful theming done in the parks and if you power through to just hop on and off the rides, you'll likely miss a lot of that and the visual gags and winks in the parks.

We were impressed with them enough we've decided to go back to get more done as there were several things we were disappointed we didn't have time for. I don't feel EP would've helped us get on more since lines and crowds really weren't an issue for us beyond that one night (which was a Saturday). It was really just our limitations and the way we travel.

So I'd say that if you get EP or not is sort of a gamble on what crowds are like that particular day. And then it all really boils down to what your family's priorities are in terms of tours and attractions, how they approach touring parks, and what you can afford. If your budget lets you do two rooms at a deluxe or accommodates upgrading to an EP -- then it's probably just a matter of what kind of gambler you are and if you'd rather be safe than sorry.

Also make sure you check the park times that day. US/IoA definitely aren't open as late as the Disney Parks either. They were closing around 6/7 most nights we were there last year. With it being a Friday, it might be 8 or 9 but you should definitely check. Because it does mean you have less time in a day to get through both parks. Likely only about 12 hours -- maybe closer to 14 if you're lucky.

Good luck with your planning. I hope your family enjoys your first time in US as much as we did.